Chris Hughes sells The New Republic

Less than two months after putting The New Republic up for sale, owner and publisher Chris Hughes has found a new owner: Win McCormack, a New York and Portland-based publisher.

McCormack, the founder and editor in chief of a literary quarterly, Tin House, has a long history in publishing. He founded Oregon Magazine in 1976, serving as editor in chief for more than a decade, and has served on the boards of several magazines, including New Perspectives Quarterly.

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Hamilton Fish, the publisher of The Washington Spectator, will serve as publisher and editorial director and will oversee day-to-day operations, according to a company statement announcing the sale.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"When I announced my intention to sell The New Republic last month, my goal was to find the right steward to ensure that TNR continues to be impactful and relevant,” Hughes said in a company statement. “I had many conversations with qualified candidates, and of those I ultimately concluded that Win McCormack and Ham Fish are those stewards. Their backgrounds in journalism and progressive politics make them uniquely qualified to lead such a historic institution.”

Hughes, who has owned and served as publisher of The New Republic for four years, announced in January that he was putting the magazine up for sale, saying it was “time for new leadership and vision” at the progressive publication.

At the time of the announcement, Hughes said he “underestimated the difficulty of transitioning an old and traditional institution into a digital media company in today’s quickly evolving climate.”

The announcement came after years of tumult at the company. Many of them were prompted by Hughes’s decision to implement a sweeping series of changes, which included moving the company’s headquarters to New York and slashing the publishing schedule in half. Nearly the entire New Republic staff at the time resigned in protest after Hughes forced out editor Franklin Foer, New Republic veteran Ryan Lizza wrote for The New Yorker.

“The unanswered question for The New Republic remains: can it find a sustainable business model that will power its journalism in the decades to come?” Hughes wrote in January.

McCormack said in a company statement that The New Republic, an “organ of a modernized liberalism,” will remain unchanged with respect to its liberal leanings. “We intend to … [preserve] the journal as an important voice in a new debate over how the basic principles of liberalism can be reworked to meet the equally demanding challenges of our era.”